Game



March 3, 1936. J, W N 2,032,677

GAME

Filed-Feb. 27, 1935 INVENTORZ James fiii/isoii,

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

The present invention relates .to games, and is directed to a modified game of bagatelle, or more properly, a modified tivoli game.

One of the main features of the present improvement is in the manner in which the tivoli board is mounted for rotary movement upon its axis, or a special base may be provided to provide means for holding the board for spinning motion, to effect the desired play results.

A further feature is in the provision of one, or preferably, a plurality of play or counter balls, which are trapped in the chambered game board, by a transparent cover of glass, or the like, to retain the balls in position for instant play, and

D which balls are, during a portion of the play movement, subjected to a centrifugal force, and, during another portion of the play, are successively subjected to the force of gravity, whereby, through said latter force, the balls assume final terminal, and numbered or indexed positions, at

rest.

The ball-play action is one of complete chance, each play of the balls being at random without the aid of skill, and therefore the end results of adding up the individual indexes or numbers, as

selected by the random setting of the balls at rest, give great variety to the final cumulative totals, after each play.

Interrupting pins are fixedly mounted upon the surface of the play board at spaced intervals, and

in desired geometrical, or unsymmetrical spacing, so as to cause the balls, during portions of the play action, to be individually and continuously deflected in random, or zig-Zag paths, thus to cause a wide dispersion of the balls when they finally come to rest at the score indexed seats, and thus give a wide variation in the sums of the play score totals.

The foregoing and other features of advantage will be apprehended as the herein description proceeds, and it is obvious that modifications may be in the structures herein, without departing from the spirit hereof or the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the present improved game;

Fig. 2 is a partially sectioned side elevation of the device taken, in part, on line 22, Fig. 1,

lookingin the direction of the arrows;

The spinning head or tray, generally denoted by A, comprises a circular disc portion 9, having an upstanding 'rim l3, upon the exposed edge of which is located a transparent cover Ill, preferably of glass, which is held in operative covering position by a turned over metal, or other edging II, which engages over the peripheral edge of the cover I 0, and the rear edge of the tray A. As thus constructed, the tray has an interior, visible chamber B, in which, as in Fig. 1, a plurality of 5 loose balls, preferably of steel, are located.

The inner face of the disc 9, is provided with a plurality of upstanding metallic pins l2 embedded fixedly therein, said pins being spaced apart a sufiicient distance from each other as to permit 10 the balls l5 to pass therebetween. As shown in Fig. l, the pins are arranged in a symmetrical, geometric pattern in their spacing, but they may also be arranged in an irregular pattern or spacing, if desired. 15

The inner face of the rim l3, Fig. 1, is provided with a plurality of uniformly formed and spaced teeth l4, thus to form pockets or stalls therebetween, arranged in circular position about the axis of the disc 9, and into which, after rotation 20 of disc 9, the balls rest, as shown in Fig. 1, at IS.

The circular tray A has axially mounted, at its rear face, a flanged bearing 8, the flange l of which is suitably aflixed thereto by means of screws 2|. 26

This bearing 8 is rotatably mounted in an upright support 2, which in turn is suitably supported upon a base I, so as to hold the bearing 8 horizontally so that the spinning disc A is held for rotation in a vertical plane. 30

The support 2, Fig. 2, may have a bearing liner 3 tightly mounted in a bore 4, so as to permit the free manual spinning of the disc A. The bearing shaft 8, at its outer end is provided with a floating washer 5, with a cotter pin 6 in the bear- 35 ing shaft end.

Each of the seats formed between the dentures 4 as in Fig. 1, partially illustrated, are provided with an index, or number w, so that as the balls finally come to rest in their seats, the associate 40 indexes may be added together to obtain a score. As shown in Fig 1, the aggregate sum of the balls as set, give a total of 26.

In play, the .disc A is manually spun on its support 2, and the balls are carried around by, and are held seated in the seats in the rim, and are so held, by centrifugal force, until the disc slows down to a speed at which centrifugal force no longer prevails, and then the balls commence to 50 fall, from the top of disc A, downwardly, by gravity and are interrupted as they pass through the maze of pins l2, and are deflected at random until the disc finally comes to rest, with the balls in the index seats, as in Fig. 1, after which the 55 numbers of the associate seats are added to obtain the score for the play.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. In combination, a tray comprising a revoluble disk having an upstanding peripheral rim having adjacent pockets in its inner face, and indicia associated with the pockets; means mounting said tray for rotation on a substantially horizontal axis; a transparent cover onsaid rim spaced from the disk to form a ,disk shaped chamher; one or more balls in said chamber receivable in the pockets, the tray being adapted on rotation to carry the balls in the pockets to the top of the chamber by centrifugal force; a large number of pins mounted in the disk and chamber perpendicularly to the disk and arranged over the intramarginal portions of the disk and spaced apart to allow the balls to pass therebetween, and extending nearly to the cover a distance less than the diameter of the ball whereby when balls at the upper part of the chamber are allowed to fall,

they will be held by the cover within control of the pins and will be deflected by the pins above and below said axis, thereby to scatter the balls to different pockets at the bottom of the chamber.

2. In combination, a tray comprising a revoluble disk having an upstanding peripheral rim having adjacent pockets in its inner face, and indicia associated with the pockets; means mounting said tray for rotation on a substantially horizontal axis; one or more balls in said chamber receivable in the pockets, the tray being adapted on rotation to carry the balls in the pockets to the top of the chamber by centrifugal force; a large number of pins mounted transversely in the intra-marginal portions of the chamber and spaced apart to allow the balls to pass therebetween; whereby when balls at the upper part of the chamber are allowed to fall, the pins will scatter the balls todifferent pockets at the bottom of the chamber. I

3. In combination, a tray comprising a revoluble disk having an upstanding peripheral rim having pockets in its inner face, and indicia associated with the pockets; means rotatably mounting said tray on a substantially horizontal axis; a transparent cover on said rim spaced from the disk to form a disk-shaped chamber; one or more balls in said chamber receivable in the pockets and adapted on tray-rotation to be carried in the pockets by centrifugal force to the top of the chamber; a large number of pins mounted in the disk and chamber perpendicularly tothe disk and arranged 65 in geometric patterns and straight rows continuously over the intra-marginal portions of the disk almost from edge to edge thereof and spaced apart sufiiciently to allow the balls to pass therebetween, and extending nearly to the cover a dis-; tance less than the diameter of the ball; whereby when balls at the upper part of the chamber are, on slowing movement, allowed to fall, they will be prevented by the cover from passing beyond the control of the pins and will be Widely defiected by said straight rows in random zigzag path across the disk from one side of the axis to the other side, both above and below said axis.

. 4. In combination, a tray comprising a revoluble disk having an upstanding peripheral rim having pockets in its inner face, and indicia associated with the pockets; means rotatably mounting said tray on a substantially horizontal axis; a transparent cover on said rim spaced from the disk to form a disk-shaped chamber; a plurality of balls in said chamber receivable in the pockets and adapted on tray-rotation to be carried in the pockets by centrifugal force to the top of the chamber; a large number of pins mounted in the disk and chamber perpendicularly to the disk and arranged in right angularly crossing long straight rows continuously over the intra-marginal portions of the disk almost from edge to edge thereof and spaced apart sufiiciently to allow the balls to pass therebetween, and extending nearly to the cover Within a distance less 7 than the diameter of the ball; whereby when balls at the upper part of the chamber are, on slowing rotary movement of the tray, allowed to fall, they will be prevented by the cover from passing beyond the control of the pins and will be widely deflected by'said straight rows in random zigzag path across the chamber from the chamber portion on one side of the axis to the chamber portion on the other side of the axis, both above and below said axis, thereby to simultaneously widely scatter the balls over the whole disk, thereby creating a pleasing effect, then allowing the balls to fall to different pockets at remote parts of the bottom of the chamber.

5. in combination, a tray comprising a revoluble disk having an upstanding peripheral rim having pockets in its inner face, and indicia associated with the, pockets; means rotatably mounting said tray on a non-vertical axis; a plurality of balls in said chamber receivable in the pockets and adapted on tray-rotation to be carried in the pockets by centrifugal force to the top of the chamber; a large number of pins mounted in the disk and chamber perpendicularly to the disk and arranged in geometric pattern and straight rows continuously over the intramarginal portions of the disk almost irom edge to edge thereof and spaced apart to sufliciently allow the balls to pass therebetween.

6. In combination, a tray comprising a sub stantially circular revoluble disk having upstanding therefrom a peripheral rim having deep closely adjacent V-shaped pockets in its inner face, index numbers being associated with the respective pockets; means mounting said tray for manual free rapid substantially concentric rotation on a substantially horizontal axis; a transparent cover mounted on said rim closely spaced from and parallel to the disk to form a thin disk-shaped chamber; one or more balls in said chamber, smaller in diameter than the circumferential width of the pockets, the tray being adapted for rotation free and speedy enough to carry the balls to the top of the chamber by centrifugal force, while in said pockets; a large number of pins mounted in the disk and chamber perpendicularly to the disk and arranged in straight rows continuously over the intra-marginal portions of the disk and spaced apart to allow the balls to pass therebetween, and extending nearly to the cover a distance less than the diameter of the ball; whereby when balls at the upper part of the chamber are, on slo'wing movement of the tray, allowed to fall, they will be prevented by the cover from passing beyond the control of the pins and will be deflected in rando'm'zigzag path above and below and on both sides of said axis.

JAMES H. WATSON. 

